Relentless
by Samuelito
Summary: Weiss Schnee is relentless. The type to keep pushing and pushing herself far past where there should have been a breaking point but never the type to break. Her problems and her responsibilities are hers and hers alone. Maybe she won't always have to be that way. (Weiss-centric college/real world au with slow burn Freezerburn.)
1. Chapter 1

_"It is becoming hard for me not to doubt that you are committed to this family"_

_"I am, Daddy" Weiss replied quietly. Her response wouldn't appease him but that wasn't the point. _

_"Really? Because you don't sound sure" This was all part of the ritual. "Surely you are aware of the sacrifice and the untold hours of hard work that have gone into providing you a life of comfort?" _

_"I… I know, I am, Daddy" Weiss answered, stumbling over her words. _

_"Then why are you sneaking off to your room when there is a banquet going on downstairs which you are meant to be helping host". _

_The 12 year old girl stared at the floor. "I was just… some of the guests were…. I was feeling uncomfortable and.. I just needed some space."_

_" Weiss, at times we will all feel uncomfo__rtable. That is a fact everyone must deal with. You are going to have to learn to be stronger." He paused "Otherwise what use will you be to anyone?"_

* * *

The dreaded shrill alarm didn't have to work hard to pull Weiss from her usual frustrating sleep. With a small groan she forced herself up out of bed. Despite her lack of sound sleep, or maybe somewhat because of it, she woke up at six AM every day and did her make up, hiding the darkened circles below her eyes and ensuring her skin retained it's usual, flawless, pearly complexion. Almost flawless at least. There wasn't much that she could do to hide the jagged scar that marred the left side of her face. When she looked in the mirror it always loomed over her, a reminder of the weight that was always on a Schnee's shoulders, and the consequences of failing to carry it.

Coffee was the lifeblood of the young heiress, the key to managing her 22 credit college schedule. If she could have had a coffee IV drip hooked up to her, she would have. Weiss held herself to very high standards and that fact that college was a ton of work would do nothing to dissuade the relentless girl from meeting those standards.

Beacon University was about a 45 minute car ride from her home in Atlas, a bit outside the city. The rides were usually quiet ones; their butler Lawrence wasn't much of a talker. Her heart panged a little for his predecessor Klein. One of the few who had been able Weiss laugh as a child, he had always seemed to provide some energy in the cavernous and muted Schnee Manor. Jacques had let him go when Weiss was in high school. "Too distractible from his work and too much of a distraction from yours"

Regardless, the drive out of and back to the city was one of the few moments of relaxation she had all day so it was probably for the best that it was quiet. Weiss had hoped to go somewhere further away for college, explore the world perhaps, but her father had wanted to keep her close enough to keep his eyes on. Fair enough, she supposed. Beacon had been their compromise, allowing Weiss to attend school outside of the Atlas lights she has spent her childhood under, while still living at home.

* * *

Weiss glanced back and forth between her lunch and her textbook, picking quietly at her salad. Keeping perfect grades in 7 classes and competing on the fencing team required her to squeeze studying in whenever she could. Thankfully this early in the semester, things hadn't really picked up yet.

She felt a heartbeat pound in her chest. Taking a deep breath, she flipped the page and continued on with her reading. As she stared at the words, her vision slowly lost focus, then returned. Glancing back over at her salad, Weiss reached for a small bite, but as she looked at the tomato and greens speared on her fork Weiss decided she wasn't hungry. Her heart pounded in her chest again. Quickly, Weiss gathered up her things and made a brisk exit from the cafeteria.

The panic attacks had started when Weiss was 15 and they had become a great source of frustration and even more than that, shame for the white-haired girl. They made her feel embarrassed. They made her feel vulnerable. They made her feel scared. They were a chink in what was meant to be an invincible armor.

Her vision seemed to fail her, her mind processing the images far too slowly for Weiss to keep a clear picture of what was going on. She was able to force herself to focus her hearing for short intervals, long enough to hear herself gasping for air, but after a few seconds the jackhammer in her ribcage took precedence once again. A small part of her worried she might die, that she would collapse on the floor right where she was. A much bigger part of her was occupied with a much more terrifying thought. _Everyone here is going to see me die right in front of them. _A door slammed behind her and Weiss snapped just the slightest bit back to reality as she realized that she had been the one who slammed it closed. Curling up in a bathroom stall, Weiss struggled to coax deep breaths into her shivering body.

* * *

Weiss arrived at Professor Goodwitch's Atlesian History class, as always, on time and looking impeccable. She made sure of it, no matter what happened during her lunch period on any given day. History had always been a class which she found easy to do well in. It was interesting enough and she had no problem keeping dates and events organized. That was the function of history really, a system of organization so that the past could be contextualised and understood. Weiss Schnee was always organized. A time and a place for everything and everything in its time and place. She pulled her notebook out of her bag and as Goodwitch launched into her lecture, willed herself into focus and began scribbling away.

The hour and a half-long class passed uneventfully. There was some class discussion which Weiss mostly abstained from, preferring to take in the information she was hearing without unnecessary comment, and some lecture to which she was her typically attentive self. Before long though, the Professor had only her final orders of business left to speak on.

"Now, there's one last thing we have to deal with today. I'm going to assign you partners for your research project." Weiss gave a quiet but exasperated sigh. Meeting up with a partner: yet another thing she would have to coordinate and find time for. It might actually be preferable if she was placed with someone who would leave her to do all of the work herself. On second thought, Weiss decided that would not be preferable.

"Coco Adel and Sky Lark" Goodwitch read off of a sheet of paper "Jaune Arc and Lie Ren. Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee" Weiss craned her head back towards the rest of the classroom searching for a face to pair with the name Professor Goodwitch had said. After a few seconds her eyes met a pair of silver eyes staring back. They belonged to a baby faced girl, who sat in the back of the room, scarlet-tipped black hair sticking out of a red hoodie. The girl gave her a nervous grin and waved. Weiss didn't know what to think. She sighed. Lacking information, she defaulted to a sense of dread as she prepared to meet this Ruby Rose

After class, Weiss cautiously approached the dark haired girl. As she neared her, she could hear her humming to herself, whether excitedly or nervously, Weiss wasn't sure. "You are… Ruby Rose, correct?"

"Uhh, That's me." the girl said with a giggle. Weiss stared at her, raising her eyebrows. This girl looked young. Too young to be in college surely.

"How old are you?" she asked curtly.

"Oh, I tested out of high school early, I'm 16" Ruby replied, her smile shrinking a little. Weiss paused at her response. She couldn't help but feel a bit of intimidation at the younger girl. To test out of high school and be accepted straight into Beacon was extremely impressive. It would be just Weiss's luck that she would end up with a child prodigy to have to compete with. Then again, they would be working together at the moment so it probably wasn't worth her frustration yet. "Very impressive" she complimented after a second of thought.

"Eh, it just, sorta, happened, I'm not really that smart. But, anyway do you have any idea what you want to do the assignment on?" Ruby asked.

"I was thinking that we could possibly arrange to meet up sometime tomorrow to discuss that." Weiss answered.

That seemed to excite Ruby again "We could get lunch after classes end. I'll be out at three and my sister works at a pizza place a few blocks from here. She can get us free food while we work."

_Pizza place? Hmmph. _Weiss thought, picturing the greasy garbage a restaurant like that in Patch must put out. _Well it's not like we're going to go to my house_. "Fine" she replied "But I won't be out till five"

"That's ok" Ruby smiled at her " I can wait, I usually hang there anyways. Give me your scroll number, I'll send you the name of it."

Once the exchange was finished, Weiss turned on a heel to move on to her next class. "See you then" she forced out as she began to walk away.

"Wait" called Ruby, speeding over to catch her "it was Weiss right?" She had never even introduced herself, Weiss realized.

She took a sharp breath. "Yes" she answered, "It's Weiss".

* * *

_Jacques turned and began to walk away and Weiss instinctively flinched at the movement. "That's it, Daddy?" she asked with caution. This would often be the point in the conversation where he would begin to raise his right hand back._

"_Yes Weiss, that's it." he replied coldly. Then Jacques left her alone in her room. She wasn't even worth it. _

_Weiss signed and slid down into a sitting position on the floor, leaning against the side of her bed. She tucked her head into her knees. These conversations with her father always left her mentally exhausted. He was pushing her, she understood that, and in the end he would be proud of who she would become one day. But until then she was still going to disappoint him more often than not._


	2. Chapter 2

"Qrow's Pizzeria." A few of the letters flickered as she stared up at the neon sign. After a pause, Weiss opened the door and walked inside, being enveloped immediate by the smell of garlic and melting cheese. Before she had time to examine the interior of the place, a girlish voice squealed out "WEISS!" There was Ruby sitting at a booth, waving her arms excitedly, looking about ready to burst from eagerness. Weiss groaned internally. The initial intimidation she had felt for the girl was ceding ground to a rapidly growing skepticism

She made her way over to the booth, high heels gliding over questionable carpet. A quick glance around the restaurant painted a bleak picture. There only one table occupied other than Ruby's, an old man who was seemingly done eating. The rest of the tables were empty. If the rest of the dinner rush was like this, they probably couldn't even cover their rent.

Sitting down stiffly at the booth, Weiss adjusted her collar silently, pulled off her shoulder bag and methodically began placing her notebook and supplies on the table.

"How was your day Weiss?"

Weiss gave Ruby a curious look. "You seem….. Enthusiastic."

The uncomfortable stare the younger girl gave her in response seemed like it could melt her. She sighed and tried again. "It was fine. Let's just get started."

Ruby frowned meekly. "Uh, okay."

"Ruby! You didn't tell me you were bringing a date!" a voice rang out. Weiss looked up to see it's source swaggering up to them, her gaze meeting a beaming smile, a flowing golden mane, and two lilac eyes. Eyes which had flicked over to her now and were giving her a curious once over. The girl flashed her an inviting grin. "She's pretty. Are you trying to make me jealous?" A tinge of pink tinted Weiss's cheeks and she found herself experiencing a rare moment of speechlessness. She quickly resolved to not experience another.

"We're doing a school project Yang" scolded Ruby "And if you drive her off I'm gonna have to do twice as much homework."

The blonde looked excited "Even better! Does that mean that this little dime is up for grabs?"

"Excuse me!" Weiss snapped "I'm right here"

"I'm being a pain in the ass, aren't I?" Yang said, catching Weiss off guard with a warm smile "I'm Yang."

Her brow furrowed. "My name is Weiss." she replied, the name trailing off confusedly. She clawed deep within her stomach to find the annoyance that she knew ought to be coursing through her still. "And I will not be compared to mere pocket change. But if we get as little work done on this assignment as you are as a waitress right now, a dime is about what your tip is going to look like."

Yang snorted. "Well, if I have to work any harder for this table I might have to actually charge you for your food."

She paused "The usual, sis?" Ruby beamed a smile of confirmation "And what might the princess over here like?" Weiss narrowed her eyes at the nickname. "A slice of pepperoni and jalapeno. And a coffee please, black." Yang smiled. "Coming right up" and she skipped away.

"So that's your sister?" Weiss asked.

"Yup" replied Ruby, making a pop with her lips at the end of the word. Weiss elected not to ask about their wildly different appearances. "Don't let her get to you" Ruby added "She's just teasing. She does it to everyone."

"Right..." Weiss replied, then with an indignant huff added "Let's just get to work."

"22 credits?How do you even handle all that?"

Weiss grunted. "By actually getting my work done when I'm supposed to be doing it." On the positive side, Ruby was at least somewhat motivated. She had actually shown up having researched some ideas for a topic. "You said you brought some notes on the Atlesian-Mistralian conflict of 1860?"

"Oh,Yeah, let me see" Ruby said, sifting through her chaotic pile of papers. Eventually she found the notes she was looking for and slid them across the table to Weiss who began skimming them. Weiss hmmphed thoughtfully. The notes weren't the most thorough but they weren't too bad. She knew the details of this conflict well so if Ruby had been researching it it might as well be their topic.

"So what do you do for fun?

There was the negative side however, keeping Ruby focused on the work in front of them was a monumental task. Even without the loudmouth blonde inciting it, she was struggling to keep the younger girl on task for more than minutes at a time before she tried starting side conversations and asking Weiss questions.

"I do compete on the fencing team. But, like I said, I mostly try to keep focused on my work." Weiss prayed the brunette would take the hint.

"Fencing, huh? That's pretty awesome. What about, like, when you're with friends though."

Weiss pursed her lips and below the table, nails dug into pale palms. "I'm more of a family person honestly." She willed herself to maintain her calm.

Ruby raised a finger to object but a loud bang erupted from the kitchen door, cutting off their conversation. Weiss jumped at the noise, then slumped down in frustration, realizing that the noise represented the big sister coming back with their food. In that case, They had been here probably half an hour and they had barely gotten started! And with that blonde oaf making her way over, they were certainly not escaping distraction any time soon.

"Bon appetit Girls" Yang announced, sliding both of the plates onto the table with a clatter. Weiss' eyes trained onto Ruby's plate with a glare.

"Are you serious?" She complained in bewilderment.

Yang glanced over the table in confusion. "Uh, this is what you wanted right?"

"It's not that" Weiss ranted, turning to the brunette across from her. She gestured at Ruby's plate "Is that seriously what you're going to eat for lunch?" Ruby's plate held some sort of giant deep dish chocolate chip cookie, topped with an avalanche of vanilla ice cream.

Ruby gave a look of confusion. "Uhhh, I already ate lunch. This is just a snack"

"But you eat that all the time?" Weiss pressed."Enough for it to be 'the usual'?"

"Pretty often" Ruby's lips pulled into a cheeky smile. "Do you want some?"

"Ugh, I don't know how you're still alive eating like that."

"Well OK" Ruby deepened her voice into a mocking tone "Thank you for the invitation into Weiss's life of homework and dieting." Yang, who had been watching the argument in rare silence, burst out in laughter.

Weiss dug her nails into her palms even more furiously. How dare they? She didn't have to put up with this. She didn't have to be here at all.

An amused yet mellow voice cut through the maniacal giggling and snapped Weiss out of her fuming. "Actually, I think your friend might be right Ruby. I don't think you really even eat lunch. It would be just like you to try and survive off only sugar."

The source of the the interjection was a taller pale girl with amber eyes. She emerged from the kitchen, throwing aside her dirty apron to reveal the almost as dirty navy blue jeans and black tank top it had unsuccessfully covered. Her hair was a deep black also, cut short into bob, and atop her head she wore a black bow, the one spotless article of clothing on her body. For a thought she saw the narrow her eyes at her. She wasn't certain it was an expression of suspicion, but it was at least an oddly pensive look. Regardless the look disappeared at the sound of Yang's voice.

"Yeah. They're starting to convince me too Sis. Am I gonna have to force feed you to get you to eat some real food?"

Ruby gave a scandalized gasp. "How can you guys accuse me like that? I thought we were friends?" As their conversation devolved into a cacophony of sisterly faux-bickering, Weiss diverted her attention to the black haired girl who was watching the pair in amusement. "Hello, uh, My name is Weiss"

"Blake" she replied "But we've actually met. You're in English class with me"

"Oh" Weiss exclaimed stiffly "I guess I hadn't recognized you" She honestly hadn't realized she had ever seen this girl before. Perhaps it would benefit her to start paying more attention to her surroundings sometimes, she wondered absently.

She took a bite of her pizza, as the sisters fight wound itself down into conclusion and the group descended into an uncanny silence. It was quite good actually, to her surprise, better than many of the trendier places she had been to in Atlas. No, the problem with this place was squarely on the atmosphere. And most definitely the staff.

"Well, if you don't mind, me and Ruby really ought to be working on this project." Weiss suggested, only to be interrupted. "Can we at least take a break while we eat?" Ruby pleaded with an innocent smile. _We've practically been taking a break this whole time _Weiss wanted to scream.

"Soo Weiss, what are you majoring in?" Blake interjected calmly, offering Weiss an alternative to starting an argument.

"Business, focusing on Energy Management" Weiss responded "It's expected that I'll join the family business one day so I'll have to know what I'm talking about.

"No surprises there." answered Blake with a nod.

"Wait, family business? What does your family do?" asked Yang.

Weiss gave her a befuddled look. "Do you seriously not know?"

"No..?" Yang answered in confusion. "How would I?"

Blake rolled her eyes at Weiss's dumbfounded silence. "The Schnee Electric Company is the largest energy company this side of Remnant." she recited "The Schnee's are a billion dollar family." Yang and a suddenly attentive Ruby's jaws dropped, while Weiss cast a glance at Blake.

"At least somebody here is in the loop."

"So you're rich…. Like, really rich?" asked Yang. Weiss gave an icy glare at the cretinous Blonde. Her teasing continued unperturbed though. "Wait, Weiss, can I borrow $500?"

"Why do you guys tell me about you for a little now." Weiss suggested through gritted teeth. "What about Blake and Ruby, what are you two studying?" Anything to turn the conversation away from herself and hopefully to keep anybody talking but Yang.

Ruby was engineering major, Weiss found out, after managing to make sense of her excited babbling on the subject. She seemed to have noticeably more to say about artificial intelligence and quantum computing than she had about anything relevant to Atlesian History but that at least indicated she didn't sleep through all of her classes. Also, she was in the robotics club that Beacon apparently had. Yang, of course, interjected to complain about how Ruby hadn't helped her install NOS on her motorcycle yet and Ruby had explained with a tired sigh indicative of a repeated conversation that Yang's bike was electric and nitrous oxide wouldn't do anything to it. Then Yang had laughed and explained that really her only objective was for her bike to have "a speed boost button like Mario Kart"

Blake was a creative writing major, which Weiss thought was a curious financial choice for somebody currently employed as a dishwasher but she elected against voicing that thought. "Hmm, perhaps I'll have to read some of your work some time" she instead replied

"Make sure she shows you the sexy stuff, Weiss" Yang whispered loudly.

Blake groaned, covering her face in her hands. "Oh my God Yang."

Weiss's blush betrayed her but she attempted to maintain composure. "Don't mind her Blake" she replied while a sharp inhale "It's only natural that she would recommend her 'personal favorites'"

Yang shrugged. "Some of us are just more in tune with our bodies than others I guess

"Yang!" Ruby let out a squeal that sounded almost of physical pain "Gross! Oh my God! Let's talk about anything else"

Weiss took that as her cue to text her driver. Nothing productive would be happening here today clearly.

"Ok, fine." teased Yang. "We can talk more about your new friend, the ice princess"

The nickname sent a shiver down her spine. Weiss looked up from her scroll, red faced. She had meant to be surreptitious about her exit but Yang was surprisingly perceptive. The girl smiled mischievously, beckoning for her attention. Weiss finally snapped. "You are some of the most irritating people I have ever met. And who said anything about friends?" She punctuated her sentence with an angry huff.

There was a pause.

"Well" Blake broke the silence "I think my break's about finished" and she slinked quickly back off to the kitchen.

_Dammit_. It began to hit Weiss what she had just said and what had just happened. Yang was looking her over silently, eyes narrowed. Ruby looked like someone had just told her her dog was dead.

"That…. Didn't come out…. How I intended it." Weiss bit her lip. Both girls remained quiet. "I would just really like to get the work done" she mumbled.

Another second passed in silence, then Ruby looked over at her sister. "She's right, just let us work for a while Yang." Yang obliged and left them alone, though she didn't look like she wanted to.

Weiss took a deep breath and looked over at the girl across from her. She was hurt still, clearly. "Uh, actually Ruby" she mumbled again "My ride's about to be here now"

"What? I'm sorry Weiss!" Ruby babbled in panic "I thought you had more time"

"We'll figure something out. Tell your sister thank you for the food."

Weiss left quickly, ditching the mess she had created for a much preferable sidewalk bench, where she could wait alone.

Well, she had hoped she would be alone. But it was only a minute before the blonde girl who had been driving her insane for the past hour appeared once again to sit gently beside her.

It was a moment before eachother of them said anything. Eventually, Yang cautiously opened her mouth. "You good?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "What do you want Yang?"

Yang tried again "I asked if you were alright"  
"I have no interest in discussing my wellbeing with you. Get to the point" Weiss did her best to put some anger behind the words, but she was too miserable to really emphasize it.

Yang put her hands up. "Don't get so defensive. Alright, shit. The point is that everybody was entirely nice to you and I assume you have it in you to be nice back. That's my little sister and my best friend in there and you aren't going to speak to them that way without dealing with me.

After a pause Weiss spoke, tersely but quietly "You're right, I'm sorry. " Yang was right, she knew that. Everyone there had been perfectly good to her and she was being rude and difficult. It still took a lot out of her to let down her guard though.

"It's cool" Yang answered, albeit with uncharacteristic hesitance for the confident girl. "I assume you'll be around at least a little more before your projects done. I'm just trying to make sure everything stays peaceful."

"Actually, I think I'll just be taking care of it for the both of us. You probably won't be seeing me again"

"That's too bad." Yang frowned. "I wouldn't have minded getting to know you better."

Weiss didn't respond.

A white Mercedes beeped from the opposite curb. "That you?" Yang asked?

"Yeah." Weiss breathed "That's me."

Schnee manor was quiet. It was usually quiet, Weiss supposed, but after the day she'd had it was offputtingly quiet. When she'd first arrived she had managed to rediscover her anger at the dimwits she had dealt with all most frustrating part was that they weren't that dimwitted; there was no excuse! Ruby wasn't stupid, Weiss could sense it even if she resisted accepting the observation. If she would put in even half as much work as Weiss did, she would probably be somebody really impressive. But she was lazy, unfocused; just coasting on the things that came naturally to her.

Then there was Blake. In a peculiar way she reminded Weiss of herself She was reasonable and levelheaded. Too levelheaded to be here, doing unserious things, palling around with unserious people.

_And Yang… _ Weiss practically hissed at the thought of the girl. She absolutely couldn't believe that she was allowing the blonde take up her energy like this. Every time Yang had made some stupid, half-clever comment toward her, her stomach fluttered. With rage, assuredly. This incessant teasing had to have some deeper meaning. This girl was testing her but why? And why was she allowing this irrelevant waitress to test her? Why couldn't she just let any of it slide?

But then the first thing that had broken the stiff silence since she'd gotten home was the buzzing of her scroll receiving a message and of course, it was from Ruby

"Hey Weiss, I'm really sorry about today. I didn't mean to waste your time. I promise we'll get this done and we'll do it your way this time. Just let me know where and when".

Scanning over the text, Weiss sighed. Her chest ached. Ruby was a ridiculous dolt but Weiss had absolutely no business causing her to feel any guilt. Especially after she had behaved so rudely in the face of people trying to be kind to her.

_Kind. _Weiss wished that she was kind but she was mean and she knew it. When had she become so judgmental? It had become second nature, she didn't know for how long,.to silently put everyone she met through these ruthless evaluations. To see how she measured up against them. _She never did._

Weiss quickly typed out a response. Them she spent far too long editing it. It was important to her that her point be made clear to the bubbly girl.

"Ruby, I appreciate your apology but you don't owe me one. In fact, I'm the one who is sorry. My disrespectfulness to you and your friends was completely out of line and undeserved. Let's meet again tomorrow at the restaurant if possible and try to stay on task and I will try not to be such unpleasant company"

A few minutes later, the scroll buzzed again.

"That's OK Weiss, I just figured you were having a bad day. Tomorrow is perfect. Can't wait." A smiley face punctuated the end of the message.

A weight lifted itself off of Weiss shoulders. She wasn't even mad at her. They could give this all another attempt tomorrow. She could maybe even apologize to Blake as renewed motivation, Weiss began scheming a way that she could keep the peace and still make sure Ruby and her got actually got some work done.


	3. Chapter 3

_"I don't want to be here for the rest of my life."_

_Willow looked lazily down at the top of the desk she sat at. "Weiss, you know that these decisions are between you and your father."_

_Weiss bit her lip. Willow and her spoke very rarely; her mother had pretty well checked out for most of her adolescence. "You know that father can be… hard to reason with sometimes." _

_However, she knew her mother still had the ability to change her father's mind on something, on the rare occasion she was willing to use it._

_"Why is this so important to you Weiss?" Willow mused._

_"Because everybody I know I only know through you and father. Every opportunity in my life I only have because of you two." A hint of desperation was beginning to creep into Weiss' voice. It was hard for her to express what she actually wanted but she knew that her insides were screaming at her not to attend college in Atlas as her parent's wished for her. She needed to step outside of the confines of the world her parents had raised her in. She needed a world of her own._

_"That means that they're good opportunities Weiss, and good people to know." Willow said softly."_

"_Mom, please just..."_

"_This is between you and Father. He has put a lot of thought into these sorts of things for you."_

_Weiss simply gave a miserable nod, her shoulders slumping as she turned to exit the study. _

"_Weiss." her Mother spoke up once more just before Weiss reached the door. "Perhaps your Father would consider Beacon a suitable choice for your college. It is still close to Atlas but... you might suggest that to him."_

* * *

"I don't know Blake, I just feel like that whole situation might have kinda been my fault."

Blake's apartment was a typical hangout spot for the girls after their shifts were over. It was a minimalist place but it had a certain style. Flea market furniture furnished the room and the calm scent of lavender candle floated in the air. Ruby had gone home tonight; she had class in the morning, so after the restaurant closed it was just Blake and Yang who came back to relax. For Yang that meant whatever alcoholic mixture her friend managed to come up on a given night. Blake's cocktails were legendary; always delicious and always trusted. For Blake, relaxing meant a hot mug of chamomile.

"She's the daughter of billionaires, Yang. Would it be that surprising for her to be a brat?"

Yang gave Blake a peculiar look "Since when are you so judgmental?"

"I'm not trying to be judgmental." Blake sighed. "It's not like you to let someone act like that without a fight."

"I already told you I talked to her and she apologized. And Ruby told me she texted her to apologize too."

"So what are you thinking then Yang?"

Yang's reply was hesitant. "I think we're gonna see her again tomorrow. I should talk to her, try to smooth things out. Maybe she won't be totally in work-mode. And if she's cool then uhh.." she paused before continuing sheepishly "maybe we invite her over? Give her a chance?"

Blake shrugged. "I can't imagine her being very receptive to any of that."

Yang gave her a smug grin "You weren't either when we first met."

"I wasn't like that." Blake objected. She sighed but her lips formed a small smile. Yang was as stubborn as anyone she knew. There was not going to be any changing her mind on this. Her openness and genuine care for others were some of Yang's best qualities. Her and Ruby both had a way of seeing the best in people. It was one of the reasons Blake liked them so much and she knew that their friendship wouldn't have been possible if they weren't that way. "You mean invite her to my house?" she asked, giving in.

"C'mon Blake!" Yang begged "It'll be way better than having her over at my Dad's house."

Blake brushed a hand against the furry second set of ears atop her head. "I'll have to wear a bow." she said quietly.

Yang froze. "Oh shit, Blake. I wasn't thinking. We can do something else."

Though there was no law stopping Faunus from participating in society however they liked, it wasn't always acceptable or safe for them to leave their own communities and few did. Blake didn't cover her ears at home or when she was around Yang and Ruby and their family but she did in public. Most humans weren't as open-minded. It would be necessary if they were going to invite a borderline stranger over and though she knew Yang didn't follow the politics enough to know it, that went doubly for a stranger named Schnee.

Still she shook her head. "No. It'll be fine."

Yang hesitated, not quite willing to accept that answer so easily. "If you change your mind when we see her tomorrow, I won't ask her."

Blake shook her head again. "If she's cool tomorrow then I won't change my mind." She gave Yang a smirk. "You might want to go easy on her though. She looked about ready to have an aneurysm talking to you."

Yang searched for anything she could say to argue that but after a few seconds she slumped in defeat. "Yeah. I don't know why, I'm just curious about her."

Blake's smirk grew. "You're gonna kill me like that one of these days Yang." Yang snorted and Blake smiled. This was Yang at both her best and worst and Blake never had found a way to say no to her.

* * *

It felt strangely important to Weiss that today go better than the prior had but that feeling wasn't very logical. Ruby was just a classmate once this assignment was done and she probably wouldn't ever see the other two again. She honestly wasn't sure if Blake or Yang would be there tonight. That illogical part of her hoped they would though. She knew she had spent their previous meeting making things harder on herself and everyone around her and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty over her cold response to their friendliness.

_Focus!_ She chided herself. The priority today was her history class, not assuaging her guilty conscience.

When Weiss arrived,the scene at the restaurant was entirely different than the day before. The place was packed. Almost every table in the building was occupied. In the same booth in the corner she was greeted with the familiar sight of her excitable partner waving her over, as if the two were already best friends. She made her way over and placed her things down on the table. She brought with her both her usual school bag and a second blue tote bag with snowflake embroidery. A cup of coffee was already waiting for her at her seat. She grasped her fingers, running then curiously around the mug handle.

"Yang remembered how you like it." Ruby piped up. Weiss hummed thoughtfully."You feeling better today Weiss" asked Ruby, a little uncertainty creeping into her voice.

Weiss exhaled and gave the younger girl a small smile. "Much" She took a sip of the warm drink in front of her. Ruby was right: Yang had remembered how she liked it. Not that 'black' was especially hard to remember but it was still thoughtful of her.

As if on cue, a golden blur flashed by. Yang moved seemingly at hyperspeed, jumping from table to table frantically, distributing drinks and condiments and the like from a tray. Her perfect blonde hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. Weiss found herself almost mesmerized watching her work.

"She's gonna leave us alone today. I told her not to distract us." Ruby commented.

Weiss snapped back. "Right." She drilled herself into focus, her eyes flicking towards the tote bag which contained her new approach. It was time to make her offer.

"Alright, Ruby" Weiss began firmly "It is important to me that we actually make some progress today unlike last time. So, if you manage to stay on task I have something for you." She pulled a white box out from the bag and set it on the table, flipping it open to reveal it's contents. "Fine Atlesian Chocolates. For every 10 minutes you can stay on task uninterrupted, I will give you one.

"Ha" snorted Ruby "You can't buy me off with your fake, fancy, rich person candy. Everyone knows that rich people like terrible sweets."

"Really?" asked Weiss, almost hypnotically, as she offered up a sample chocolate to Ruby. Ruby plucked the candy out of Weiss' hand skeptically, popping in in her mouth. Slowly, her eyes widened and she practically melted with joy. Weiss heard herself emit a rare giggle at the sight.

The younger girl pulled herself back together and looked nervously at Weiss. "Every 5 minutes?" she asked weakly.

"Deal" Weiss smiled.

* * *

An hour and a half of work passed quickly and in the blink of an eye the two girls had practically finished the whole project. Weiss couldn't help but be pleased with herself and her new bribery tactic Ruby, it turned out, was a very good worker, at least when correctly incentivised. Of course Weiss wasn't really surprised by that. It took a hard worker to get jumped into college as a 16 year old, obviously. Obviously Ruby had never been going to cooperate well with her intense, focused approach, nor would she accept being treated so coldly. She didn't deserve to be.

"Hey, Weiss!" Yang's sunny voice cut in and grabbed both of the girls' attention. She sauntered up to the table and wiped her brow. The restaurant had slowed considerably and most of the customers were gone. Exhaustion was evident in her eyes but she maintained a peppy smile. She paused curiously at the scene in front of her. Between Ruby's chocolate-covered face, the mountain of wrappers strewed across the table and the pages of obvious, uncharacteristic productivity, a vivid picture was painted for her. Yang gave Weiss a smirk. "Wow." She exclaimed "You are such a manipulator"

Weiss heart sank. She should have known anything she did at this point would come off badly. "Wait.. hey...it wasn't like that" she halfheartedly defended .

Yang's features softened "Hey, I was joking" she said gently.

Weiss stiffened and looked at the floor. "Oh"

There was an awkward pause before Yang took a deep breath."Blake was telling me I should apologize for messing with you so much when I don't really know you."

Weiss found herself taken aback at the idea of anyone apologizing to her after the way the previous day had gone. "Oh. Um, that's okay" she answered hesitantly.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I can't help myself."

She glanced into the blonde girls lilac eyes. There was an aura of warmth and genuinness to them; a sense of care. However, Weiss's heart sank as she fearfully imagined what kind of messages Yang was getting in return via her eyes. "It's really no big deal." she offered.

"Especially with the way you get all flustered but you still always think you have a good comeback.."

Weiss shot Yang a deadpan expression freezing the blonde's gradually widening grin. "Perhaps the help you need is more professional"

Yang laughed, her grin began to grow once again and this time Weiss couldn't help but smile."I've got to go help Blake with the mountain of dishes in the back. If you guys hang around we'll come distract you more when we're done."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Just my luck." She had barely let her walls down at all and she was already beginning to feel alarmed at how charmed she was allowing herself to become at the group of girls. She has spent her whole childhood surrounded by powerful, wealthy associates of her family who had worked very hard to make good impressions on her. Yet she had found them all combined to be about as charming as a dentists waiting room. Happy she had made things somewhat better, relieved to be so ahead in her homework, and amused by her goofball partner, Weiss' smile refused to leave her face.

It was a smile that Ruby didn't miss.

"Hmm. You almost look like I'm not the worst partner you've ever had for an assignment then" Ruby teased.

Weiss let out a quiet giggle. "No, you still are. I was homeschooled growing up so I've never had any other partners."

Ruby frowned. "That must have been hard."

"Well, I don't really have anything to compare it to." Weiss answered matter of factly.

"Well, how different was it from college?"

Weiss shrugged. "I worked a lot then, I work a lot now. I suppose it's nice to be out of the house a bit more."

"It sounds lonely." Ruby replied, crossing her arms

"It was fine, Ruby. My family has a lot of money and we could afford the best tutors imaginable. It makes perfect sense."

"This is why you were so weird yesterday when I was asking about friends." Ruby exclaimed with an air of discovery.

"Ruby" Weiss interrupted with an irritated grunt "I haven't had a lot of friends, okay? Is that.."

"Well I'm gonna be your friend!"

Weiss narrowed her eyes "What?" She replied flatly "You don't know me at all and the only thing you do know is that I yelled at you yesterday."

"I also know that you bought me chocolate today." Ruby giggled.

"Ruby.."

The kitchen door banged open again and the boisterous blonde reappeared. "If I waited for your help to get stuff done we'd have to live here Yang." Blake's amused voice called from somewhere in the back.

Yang shook her head in faux-exasperation. "Taken for granted as usual". She muttered just loudly for everybody to hear, her lips curling into a smirk. Sweaty and drained, she made her way over to sit down and join the other two girls. Half a minute later Blake followed. "Well I guess you're even luckier than you thought" Yang remarked toward Weiss with a tired smile.

Weiss looked Yang over curiously "Were you really taking care of everything that was going on in that dining room by yourself?" she asked "That seems like far too much work for one person."

"Yeah" Yang sighed "We've been trying to hire a server assistant for months but no luck."

"Yeah, well, good help is hard to find" Weiss quipped.

Blake gave her a flat look. "I'll choose to interpret that as generously as possible" Weiss found herself startled and confused. Did that come off badly coming from her?

She paused pensively, mentally acknowledging the previously quiet girl. "Blake, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't expecting you all to be how you were and I was completely out of line."

Blake shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't think you were going to show your face around here again."

"At first I wasn't going to." Weiss admitted, glancing downward.

Blake continued unperturbed by the white-haired girl's reaction. "But then Yang told me that you had texted Ruby to apologize and that you'd be back again today. What changed?"

"Nothing, really." Weiss answered in a shy whisper. She stiffened even more so than before "I just felt like I should apologize. And that maybe today would be different."

Blake remained silent for a second, contemplating her reply. "If you're cool with Ruby and Yang, you're cool with me." She finally said.

Weiss let out a small, relieved sigh and her shoulders relaxed noticeably.

"Aww, Blake look." Yang cooed "She was scared you were gonna ban her from being friends with us." Blake rolled her eyes. So much for Yang going easy on her.

"I already told Weiss she could be my friend!" Ruby babbled "Blake will never come between us, Weiss!"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Blake giggled quietly while Yang cocked her head sideways. Was Ruby stealing her thunder?

Meanwhile Weiss's shoulders had immediately stiffened once again at the return of this topic. She looked back and forth between the three girls before finally letting out an exasperated sigh. "What is with you guys?"

Blake frowned. Here came the aneurysm she had predicted. She found herself pleasantly surprised as Weiss took a deep breath.

"I just mean that… I don't even know you. And you don't even know me." she awkwardly attempted to clarify.

Yang turned to Weiss. "Well," she hesitantly suggested "we could change that.." She glanced unsurely over at Blake and received a subtle, affirmative nod. "I was going to ask you later but I was thinking we could maybe all use a fresh start together. And I was thinking that maybe we could all hang out this Saturday? At Blake's place. I don't know if you drink, but we could have drinks, or just hang out, whatever. What do you think?"

Weiss was completely taken aback. Seeing new places, meeting new people; she supposed this was exactly why she had wanted to get out of Atlas. Whatever she had been envisioning, these were definitely new and different people. Something about this felt like a rock was sinking to the pit of her stomach though. "Wow" she stammered "What on earth makes you two want to befriend me so badly" She inhaled and found the sharpness her voice ought to carry. "I would hate to see how someone you consider an enemy behaves."

With a warm smile, Blake interjected slowly "For the record, If you need a friend, I can't think of anybody better than either Ruby or Yang."

Weiss paused for a second, then glanced back up at Yang. She couldn't shake the feeling that this might actually be nice. She bit her lip. "I'm not sure that Saturday works Yang. But I will definitely let you know."

* * *

_This absolutely can not be the best use of your time. You are supposed to be qualifying yourself for leadership in one of the most important companies in the world. _

Weiss found it hard to express what she actually wanted to do. There were so many arguments against accepting Yang's invitation circling in her mind. She was certain that if she were to sit down and write a list of pros and cons, the latter would dwarf the former

_You never go to things like this_. _You don't spend time around people like this. You couldn't spend two days around then without making an ass of yourself._

She knew by the ache in her stomach though, from the moment Yang asked her, that she was going to do everything she could to be there. It was the same ache that had driven her to attend college anywhere but Atlas. The ache that told her that, as much as she trusted her parents to set her on the path to success she couldn't trust them completely.

_They must be trying to get something out of you! No one would go out of their way to have you over after the way you treated them. _

Honestly, they weren't the first people who had reached out to Weiss at Beacon. Fencing teammates inviting her on their outings, classmates starting up friendly conversation; she had dismissed them all repeatedly with enough venom that none tried twice. She had higher aspirations which took priority. It hurt every time.

The door to her father's study loomed over her. She rapped her knuckles cautiously against oakwood. With a creak the door opened and Jacques Schnee emerged, his lip curling into a slight sneer at the sight of his daughter. "I trust this is important, Weiss?"

She took a deep breath. "The fencing team has an event on Saturday.. an overnight for 'team bonding'. I just wanted to be sure that a ride could be arranged? And to let you know where I'd be."

He paused in consideration, for just long enough to make Weiss nervous. A weight lifted from her shoulders when he finally replied "I will let Lawrence know." Then he turned away in disinterest and shut his door again.

Weiss let out a sigh but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. That conversation has been surprisingly easy. Maybe not so surprisingly; her father had been pretty checked out of her life since she had started college. He seemed content to let her affairs pass on autopilot. Whatever. What mattered is that she had gotten what she wanted or at least she would be able to find out if she actually wanted it or not.

**Author's Note**

**This chapter took forever to get right and I'm glad to ****finally**** have an update out. I think it came out pretty good in the end but, hey, we're all perfectionists right? The next chapter is going smoothly and should not take so long. I'll be trying to update about every two weeks. If anyone is actually reading this story, comments/reviews are very much appreciated: they keep me motivated. **


	4. Chapter 4

_Weiss couldn't remember the name of the dry older gentleman who had been chatting her ear off for the last 20 minutes. Attending her Father's galas was a chore but an unfortunate reality of her position as corporate heiress. She had become well versed in the arts of small talk and feigning interest. _

_The booming voice of Jacques Schnee rang out from behind her. "Luther, I'm so glad you could make it." At these parties, Weiss always saw a different side of her father. He was personable and charismatic, friendly even. She knew he also despised being here, though. It was only a means to an end, to get the right people in the right room, just loose enough to work with. "I see you've met my beautiful daughter."_

_Luther smiled. "She is quite exceptional Jacques." _

_"Yes, well if anybody knows how exceptional she is it's me." He snapped his fingers, calling to attention a nearby waitress with a platter of tall cocktail glasses. "Another drink, Luther?"_

_"That sounds perfect" he proclaimed, plucking one of the glasses of the tray. "Would Weiss like one as well?"_

_Weiss chuckled nervously. "I'm unfortunately still underage, Luther." _

_"Well, we all grow up a little quicker behind closed doors." He said, smiling at Jacques. The question hadn't really been for her. _

_"Weiss is a big girl." Jacques answered "She doesn't have to be a spoilsport like me. She can have a glass if she'd like."_

_Weiss had never seen her father drink a sip. He had an extremely low opinion of anything that dulled one's awareness or self control. His reply surprised her very much._

_She took the glass into her hand obediently. Cautiously she sniffed the mysterious liquid, resulting in a disgusted cough. Her father raised an eyebrow. Catching her breath, she took a slow, long sip. It was sort of a sweet drink but there was still a bitter burn at the center of it. She swallowed quickly, trying to maintain a straight face. She couldn't prevent the corners of her eyes from watering. _

_"Ha. Cheers" laughed Luther. He raised his glass toward Weiss. "To a slightly more bearable night." She smiled back sheepishly_

_"Enjoy yourself, Weiss" Jacques cooed as he slinked back into the crowd._

* * *

"This appears to be the house, Miss Schnee." Lawrence stated. Weiss had been staring warily at the unassuming 2-story apartment for about a minute now. Lawrence had been a bit surprised to find out he was driving her somewhere other than the school. She had told him that she was meeting up with her fencing teammates at one of their houses. Thankfully he hadn't questioned too much and had dutifully brought her to the address she'd given him. She was his employer she supposed, but it would be more accurate to say that Father was his employer. Had he felt the need to get his permission, Weiss wasn't sure what would have happened. The whole night might have ended before it could begin.

Slowly Weiss opened the door and stepped out of the car. This was definitely not her natural habitat. Frankly, after a childhood restricted to a few Father approved spaces, even Beacon didn't really feel like her natural habitat yet. But at least academics were something she excelled at. Socializing with people her own age was another matter entirely. She had done it so rarely that she couldn't even gauge whether she was any good at it. The past few days certainly hadn't given her a lot of confidence in that regard.

The dress she wore was snow white and sleeveless. It hugged her torso tightly and flowed freely around her upper legs, cutting off about thigh high. Weiss has always been taught the importance of looking her best at all times. The Schnee family had a professional stylist making sure she had the absolute latest fashion to choose from. It had been pounded into her brain. _You'll never know the importance of a first impression until you've blown one. _Most of the time Weiss found the clothes they picked for her too frilly and girlish. This dress was one of her few favorites, simple yet stylish.

Her legs felt like jelly, completely unsuited to carrying her weight. Why was she so nervous? How was she going to do anything if even this was too much for her? There wasn't anybody here who she ought to be intimidated by. Yang and her sister were ridiculous of course but certainly not intimidating. And though she hadn't spoken as much with Blake, she seemed at least… inoffensive. Lawrence flashed the car's headlights behind her, silently asking her if she still was planning to enter or not. With a sigh she waved him off and began the walk up to the apartment.

Climbing the outdoor metal staircase to the second floor was a precarious task. Thankfully Weiss was extremely coordinated. She made her way down past a few doors until she found the one she was looking for.

A chilly breeze struck her, stinging the pale, bare skin of her thin legs. Just one knock on the door in front of her stood between her and the warmth inside. Sick of shivering, she rapped her knuckles lightly against the wood.

The door opened much quicker than Weiss was expecting, startling her. "Hey, Weiss." Blake trailed off quietly and she eyed Weiss up and down. "Uh, wow."

"Weiss!" echoed Yang happily, as she appeared behind Blake in the door. "Wow, you look great."

Weiss blushed. "Umm" she squeaked, staring back at Blake's tank top and yoga pants and Yang's t-shirt and jeans. "I think I might have overdressed." She peered into the apartment, where Ruby sat on the couch intently focused on a handheld video game. Frankly the scene was pretty close to what she had expected. It was just that her instincts hadn't exactly matched up with her expectations.

As she waved Weiss in, Yang laughed. "You're been wearing heels every time I've seen you. Your middle name should be 'overdressed'. It suits you." Embarrassed and unsure how to respond, Weiss kept quiet as she stepped into the small living room. Despite the furniture and decorations being, at a close look, chosen from whatever was on hand or could be bought for cheap, the room didn't feel cobbled together. It had a sense of order and air of vogueishness.

"Dang it!" shouted Ruby, slamming the device down on the couch, then whirling toward the entrance excitedly, almost in the same motion. "Hi, Weiss!" Weiss smiled and greeted her. It was comical how quickly Ruby's entire demeanor could shift.

"I brought wine." she said, unzipping her bag and taking out the bottle.

As Blake took the bottle from her and examined it, Yang frowned. "You really didn't have to bring anything, Weiss" she said with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Hold up, this is really nice wine" interrupted Blake. "How much did this cost?"

"I believe a bottle like that runs about $700.." Weiss answered dutifully, before Yang's gasp interrupted. Weiss's lingering blush deepened. It hadn't even occurred to her that that might be an excessive amount to spend on wine for an average person.

The blonde's jaw laid pretty much on the carpet. "Seriously Weiss, you really didn't have to."

"It would have been rude of me to not contribute." Weiss insisted as Blake hushed her friend teasingly. "Besides, I didn't pay for it out of pocket." It was the truth, she hadn't. It didn't really feel wise to be openly sharing how she'd actually gotten it but Weiss was desperate to save a little face.

"Where'd you get it then?" Yang asked.

"I took it from my mother's wine cellar."

Blake practically fell over laughing and Yang couldn't help but relax and laugh also. "Oh my god, Am I dreaming?" Blake said through gales of laughter. "I've got little miss perfect, Weiss Schnee, in my home tonight stealing wine for me!"

"Yeah, I guess the princess has a little bad girl in her." Yang added with a sheepish smile. Weiss groaned.

"Geez, I hope the chocolates weren't that expensive" Ruby piped up.

"$75..?" Weiss tested. She cringed as the group's reaction told her she hadn't passed.

"Well, since Weiss went through the trouble of executing a heist.." Blake said amusedly as she uncorked the bottle, "We'd better make it worth her while." She poured herself a glass and passed the bottle and an empty glass back to Weiss, who obliged.

"Does your mom's wine cellar have some kind of crazy security system you had to crack?" Ruby asked. "If you're that rich I feel like it should have lasers or something."

A smile flickered across Weiss's face. "Fortunately no lasers" she answered. She paused, giving the younger girl a curious once over. "Are you having any?"

"She can have one drink" Yang interrupted. Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Ruby is a child" Yang added "And she only parties under strict sisterly supervision."

"I'm 16. And in college" Ruby whined. "And I know what you were getting up to when you were 16.

"And I made all those mistakes so that you don't have to." Ruby rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile Weiss poured her a glass with a smirk on her face. "I wouldn't have taken you for a good influence Yang."

Yang answered her with a shrug. "You know what they say. Do as I say not as I do and everything will turn out fine." Having filled Ruby's cup, Weiss gestured the bottle towards her but Yang put up a hand. "No, thanks. I'm already good to go" she said, holding up the short glass that Blake had mixed for her.

"No, no, no, drink my garbage later." Blake objected. "Enjoy this wine before you're too drunk to appreciate it."

"I don't think I can even really appreciate it sober. It might as well be from the gas station for all I'll be able to tell." Yang argued but begrudgingly she gave in and accepted the wine glass. "So, are we toasting to anything?"

Blake smiled. "If you've got a toast then say it."

Yang was about to speak up when Weiss's calm voice appeared. "To Blake, for hosting us all here at her home and to a wonderful if not unexpected night."

"Hey, that was pretty good." smiled Ruby, raising her glass. Weiss, meanwhile, couldn't help but notice Yang's slight frown.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?"

"It's nothing" said Yang "I was gonna say something stupid."

"Well I'd rather you say it than you keep pouting over there." Weiss insisted. "We can toast to two things."

"Alright, fine" Yang said with an embarrassed laugh. "To letting curiosity get the better of us." She shared a knowing glance with Blake, recalling their previous conversation about Weiss.

Weiss scowled. "That wasn't stupid." she argued. Weiss had barely been able to express the strange compulsions she had felt as all of this had come together. Yang had put words to it so easily and casually, and she had been ready to dismiss it as little more than a dumb joke. "That was... kind of poetic actually."

"You sound so surprised. I can be poetic sometimes." laughed Yang.

"You're the one who said it was stupid, not me."

With a smirk, Blake raised her glass, silencing the bickering. The other three followed her lead and a toast was finally made.

* * *

To say that the night was going well would have been an understatement. Weiss was enjoying herself immensely. Against all odds, she actually felt relaxed, at least for her standards. Weiss never would have expected that after how stressed she had been before arriving. It had been silly of her really. Blake and the two sisters were easy to converse with. She wasn't quite able to keep up with some of the pop culture conversation; unsurprisingly Weiss didn't spend much time watching TV or playing video games. Each time though, the conversations would turn back to life at the college or something else Weiss could speak to. It was obvious what a close connection the three girls had. Even the introduction of an outsider like Weiss couldn't disturb their dynamic, and instead she was absorbed into it.

It wasn't long before they were finished with the wine. Weiss might have assumed that would have been enough to drink for an apparently casual night, but the group moved right on to Blake's liquor. Weiss wasn't that enthusiastic at first about trying one of the cocktails that Yang talked up so much, but in the end she didn't turn one down. After all, she literally never indulged herself like this. She was more than pleasantly surprised at the drink Blake handed her, just slightly sour and effortless to swallow.

"This is wonderful" she exclaimed. "You ought to be a bartender."

"Nope" Yang shook her head "you don't know Blake's number one rule about work."

Blake smirked as Weiss raised an eyebrow curiously toward her. "I never interact with the customers."

"It's not like Uncle Qrow can keep up a liquor license anyway" grumbled Ruby.

"Why can't he keep a liquor license?" Weiss asked.

Yang gave her a flat look. "They don't like when the owner is sampling bottles in the kitchen."

"Oh" Weiss paused. "Did you say that the owner is your Uncle?" It was definitely best that she changed the direction of that conversation, especially if this was a family member they were talking about.

"Yup" said Ruby, beaming with pride ""And our Dad runs the general store right across from campus."

"I don't think I've ever bought anything there." Weiss admitted "I usually just grab my things at the shop on campus."

Ruby smirked. "Then you're paying twice as much for everything."

"Well I bet that there's a daughter discount I wouldn't be getting" Weiss said with a smile "I didn't know your family was so entrepreneurial."

"Well, we can succeed at anything we put our minds to." Ruby responded, puffing her chest out.

Weiss nodded and hummed in acknowledgement. She turned to the black-haired girl beside her. "Blake, what does your family do?"

Blake raised her eyebrows at the question. "Oh, nothing special." she replied lazily. "Odd jobs. Lot of physical labor. " She added with a disinterested shrug.

Weiss wasn't quite sure how to respond but the weirdness of Blake's answer was obvious. Before she could finish wondering what she had said and what she ought to say though, Yang interrupted. "Your turn, princess. Aren't you going to tell us about the King and Queen?"

"Hey!" Weiss snapped with a sharp huff. " Stop calling me princess!".

"Alright, alright, you don't like being called princess." said Yang, raising both of her hands in surrender. "Weiss is a tough girl, not a princess. Although." she paused, A mischievous grin beginning to grow on her face. "that means we'll have to come up with another nickname for you."

Weiss glared back unamusedly. "This night keeps getting better and better."

Her grin growing, Yang tapped her chin. "How do you feel about 'Snow Angel'?"

Blake stifled a laugh as Weiss practically gagged. "Why don't you give the princess a break, Yang."

* * *

It was a little past midnight now. Ruby was snoring quietly, having fallen asleep curled up in an armchair. Blake had stepped into her room to grab something. Weiss was slouched on the couch, scrolling absentmindedly on her phone. It seemed obvious that the evening was winding down; obvious to everybody except for Yang.

Yang's confident voice cut through the silence. "Hey Weiss, you know what we need to do right now?"

Weiss glanced at Yang, then at the sleeping Ruby, before returning her gaze to her phone screen. "Get some more pillows because that looks extremely uncomfortable." she mumbled.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep on me too." Yang whined, giving Weiss her best pleading look. "I was going to say we need to get out of this house right now. It's killing the vibe."

Weiss stared back in disbelief. "It's after 12 o'clock Yang. Where on earth would we go?"

"We know a super cool spot up a path a couple blocks from here. It's a great view, the stars will be out. It'll be perfect." She flashed Weiss an enthusiastic smile but judging by Weiss's face she wasn't buying it. "Blake?" she called into the room "Are you with me?"

A disinterested grumble answered back. "Whatever it is Yang, I'll deal with it in a minute." Yang's smile weakened.

Weiss glared at her, eyes narrowed. "Are you serious right now?"

"C'mon, this'll be fun. You don't really want to spend all night just hanging out in this apartment do you?"

"I thought it sounded pretty reasonable when you invited me to do just that."

"I wasn't aiming for reasonable, I was aiming for memorable." Yang hesitated, but eventually sighed in submission. "If you really don't want to then nevermind. I guess I'm the only vote anyway."

Weiss found herself caught off guard. She hadn't actually expected Yang to give in so easily; it was unbefitting of her. It left Weiss with no idea how to respond. She wanted to accept her victory but she couldn't. She was sure she was being perfectly logical, either that or she was being a complete buzzkill. She let out a long sigh of her own. "No. Whatever. This better be worth it though."

Perking up once again, Yang sprung to her feet and knocked on Blake's bedroom door to let her know the plan. After a few seconds there was still no response. "Um, I think it might just be us two." Yang admitted with a sheepish grin.

* * *

It was even more frigid outside than Weiss had remembered it being. Not bringing a jacket has been a stupid choice but she had expected to be inside all night. She couldn't believe that they were doing this. The rest of the evening had been a perfectly pleasant, perfectly normal social outing. Of course Yang couldn't be satisfied with that. 'Pleasant' and 'normal' were basically insults to her.

"Not much further. It's up this hill." Yang attempted to reassure the grumbly girl. They had been walking for close to three blocks before reaching the beginning of a small gravel path, framed on both sides by barren autumn trees. Yang flicked on her phone flashlight and motioned for Weiss to follow her.

"If it is much further, this is where your body will end up buried." Weiss huffed.

Yang grinned back at her. "Who wouldn't want a scenic grave?" She winced as Weiss gave her a cold stare. It was probably best she let their destination speak for itself.

It was about five minutes later when the trees around them began to clear, the hill began to flatten out and the trail they were on began to dissipate. They found themselves in a small clearing, at the side of a steep ledge. empty except for a few wooden park tables.

"Wow." Weiss mocked from the edge of the tree-cover. "Are we having a picnic at 1am with no food?"

"At least check out the view. Haven't you given me enough whine tonight?" Yang answered flatly.

With a huff, Weiss made her way over towards the ledge. She froze as she found herself gazing out over the low skyline of Patch.

"Oh" Weiss breathed "This is beautiful!" Patch wasn't an especially large city. If it weren't for the college it would have been a pretty small town in fact. That meant there wasn't enough light pollution to obscure their view of a sky full of stars. Instead, the lights that were on in the town below them stood out amongst the dim suburban void and acted almost as a mirror to the lights above. "You were right about that at least." She added.

Walking slowly up from behind, Yang grinned at her softly. "Can I get that in writing because I feel like this is gonna come up again." She snickered at her own joke as Weiss gave her a flat stare of refusal. "I've always liked this place. I found it with some high school friends a long time ago." she explained. "Then I remembered it again when Blake moved over here. I like having somewhere cool like this to go when we're just hanging out. If you stay at the house all night it gets kinda claustrophobic and everyone loses the mood eventually. Something like this gets everyone's energy back up.

Weiss couldn't resist smirking. "Unless you wait for everyone to fall asleep first." Still, she couldn't deny how nice it was up here. Much nicer than winding down the night inside would have been. It was all a little unstructured for Weiss's tastes but Yang's justification seemed vaguely sound. "So those high school friends aren't around anymore?" she asked.

Yang grunted slightly in surprise. "Oh. No. All moved on, moved away or whatever. Time keeps moving forward. Why?"

"I just pictured you, Ruby and Blake having been together all your lives." For three people to be as close as they all obviously were, Weiss figured that you would have had to raise them all in a lab together from birth. It was bizarre to imagine Yang without the others, let alone with anybody else.

Yang laughed and shook her head. "I like that you'd picture that. Like we're the three musketeers."

"More like the three stooges." Weiss deadpanned, placing a hand on her hip. "Or the three witches who share one eye?"

Yang chose to let that one slide. "Anyway, Ruby's my sister, so we have kinda been together all our lives." she explained. "Blake I've known for a couple years. She's family, for a lot of reasons." She shook her head again and smiled thoughtfully. "I've been friends with a lot of people. They come and go, y'know?. You find out who's family in the end. I'd do anything for my family."

"I know what you mean." Weiss said. It wasn't easy to directly relate Yang's life to her's, but as hard as it was to explain she could. It took a long pause for her to figure out what she meant to say. "My family are very important to me. I work constantly so that I can live up to what our name means."

Yang gave Weiss a calm smile. "You will." she insisted as if Weiss had already done so.

A shy smile found Weiss's face. "I appreciate the confidence." A nervous fluttering seemed to be growing in her stomach.

"On another note, the rest of us were planning on going out for breakfast in the morning. You think you can come? There's nothing better after a night of drinking than a big breakfast."

Weiss opened her mouth to respond but hesitated before actually is where everything got complicated and confusing. This is where she has failed to plan ahead. This night had been so random and had come together so fast that she hadn't had time to consider anything. Frankly, Weiss hadn't been sure where hanging out tonight had been supposed to lead. More hanging out, she supposed, but she hadn't really believed it. She had figured she would just be one of those people who came and went like Yang had said.

"That sounds great, Yang." she finally answered quietly. She couldn't say no to Yang she was learning and besides, it did sound great. She wasn't sure she had bought enough time with her father to be out all morning but it would have to do. He hadn't seemed too bothered by her one night out. As for the next time, Weiss wasn't sure. When had she thought that she had time to have friends? She guessed she could call this being friends, sort of. Yang and Ruby had called it that. Weiss still couldn't comprehend why they'd wanted anything to do with her, but here she was worrying about how she could sneak around to see them.

Yang gave a small fist pump "Awesome! Trust me it's the best part of the night." Her gaze slowly softened and a slight blush began to tint her cheeks."Hey, thanks for staying up and amusing me." she added, with an embarrassed laugh. "I was not ready to go to sleep yet"

"I couldn't have slept yet either." Weiss shrugged.

"Well at least someone can keep up with me." Yang laughed again. An icy breeze struck the two girls, stinging Weiss's bare limbs. She gritted her teeth and shivered stiffly. Unbothered, Yang hopped to her feet and reached down to offer Weiss a hand up. "C'mon, let's get back to the house before you turn into a Weissicle."

Weiss scowled. "That's not your attempt at a nickname is it?" Despite her protests, she accepted Yang's hand.

Ignoring Weiss's complaint, Yang took off her brown leather jacket and handed it to Weiss. "Here, put this on.

Weiss stared at the now t-shirt clad Blonde. "Won't you be cold?"

"I'm hot-blooded anyway. And you're all skin and bones. Don't worry about me." Yang smiled kindly and motioned for Weiss to follow her down the hill. After a moment's hesitation, Weiss slipped the jacket over herself. It did swim a little on her slender frame but it was quite comfortable. She never would have expected that leather would look so good on her. Smiling, she walked after Yang. Despite her legs still being bare, she somehow felt entirely warm now.

* * *

With a weak groan, Weiss slowly opened her eyes. Her neck was throbbing, she hadn't exactly spent a lot of nights sleeping on couches in her life. Her head was throbbing as well, but only as badly as it usually did in the morning.. As a long-time insomniac, a night out wasn't going to make her mornings any more unpleasant than normal.

Pulling herself into a seated position, she pulled up her phone to check the time. She groaned again. It was barely past 6 in the morning. There was no way she was going to fall back asleep though. The soft snores of Ruby, somehow still sound asleep in the armchair, were the only sound in the dim apartment. Yang was nowhere to be seen.

It was kind of eerie being all by herself here actually. In a strange way it felt almost like her home, empty and isolating. This wasn't her home though, this stillness wasn't natural here. All of the energy and life that Ruby, Yang, even Blake in her own subtle way carried was absent.

Weiss glanced at her phone. There was one unopened text message. She lazily typed in her password to view it, but took notice when she saw that surprisingly the message was from her mother. _I heard that you went out last night. Make certain you aren't giving your father the idea that you are distracted. _Weiss's stomach sank and she slumped back glumly to the couch. She had almost been able to believe that he hadn't minded and that a small indulgence like this was okay. If even her mother had heard about it she had been completely wrong.

Weiss quickly sent a message to her driver to come and get her now. Yang and the others were still expecting her to be here for breakfast but she would have to make that up another time. There was obviously work that she needed to do or at least be seen doing. She didn't belong here anyways. This silence was her natural environment, alone and insulated so she could focus only on herself and her task. But this silence wasn't natural here, she had brought it with her. She let out a stiff, tense breath as she stood to gather her things. Her ride would be here in 30 minutes or so and waiting outside sounded better to Weiss than having to explain her departure.

**Author's Note**

**Life got really busy for a couple weeks so I'm pumped to finally have another chapter out. Now that the plague has freed up about 70 hours a week from school an work, I'll be able to give this my somewhat-divided attention. Huge shoutout to Drumstyx who beta read this for me and really helped me make sure I got it right.**


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